Catastrophe & Restoration

Every day, the world confronts the tragic consequences of human violence and lack of tolerance, yet, natural and related hazards affect as many or more people as do conflicts.

The new year has brought hazardous weather to much of the country, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Ice storms and considerable snowfall beset the Midwest and Northeast.

A California public adjusting firm has agreed to pay $128,707.92 in fines and restitution after investigators charged that victims of the 2003 wild fires were deceived into signing contracts unfavorable to their interests.

We thought we'd seen it all with last year's devastating hurricane season, statistically the worst in the Southeast's history.

In November 2002, the federal government enacted the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act creating a temporary federal reinsurance program to limit insurance companies' risks of financial loss from terrorist attacks.

United States property and casualty insurers paid a record $27.3 billion for insured property losses to homeowners and businesses from 22 catastrophic events last year.

In a continuing effort to enhance disaster response, FEMA has launched a $6.7 million program that will allow its Disaster Medical Assistance Teams to respond to disasters within 12 hours.

Bonnie, Charley, Frances, Ivan, and Jeanne are names that property and casualty carriers will not soon forget.